


The Melody You Taught Me

by Li_no



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: First Kiss, First Love, Fluff, Leo's pinning is off charts, M/M, Shu only shows up once and very barely so like, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, mood tbh, sorry this is way too cheesy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-17
Updated: 2019-04-17
Packaged: 2020-01-15 12:58:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,016
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18499447
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Li_no/pseuds/Li_no
Summary: Leo struggles in composing a love song, until he meets Izumi.





	The Melody You Taught Me

**Author's Note:**

> hello! here I am again with more izuleos to heal the soul  
> this is very different from what I usually write, since it's very, very cheesy I'm sorry dhvdjd ITS REALLY, REALLY CHEESY ITS ALMOST EMBARRASSING but I really hope you'll enjoy it! thank you for reading!

Leo never really understood why there were so many love songs.

Maybe this could sound conceited, considering how Leo himself was a natural born genius who god had bestowed a blessing for composition upon, but he still couldn't quite get what the fuss was about.

Wasn't love just a feeling like any other? Why not compose songs about happiness, fear or sadness? It wasn't like he didn't understand that love was indeed beautiful, he loved his mom, his dad and Ruka-tan very much, but why limit yourself to write about one single feeling, when the expanse of the emotions of the human mind were so vast?

But, he couldn't deny he was curious. Leo had never experienced romantic love, he felt like his compositions were missing out because of this. So… let's just say he got in quite a few troublesome ordeals during his junior high days, that ultimately ended up being completely fruitless.

As amazing as it seemed, Leo actually went on dates pretty often during those times. Unbelievable, right? Thinking about it, it was incredibly selfish of him to accept the invitations all the girls sent him, when his only interest was composing. Not like any of the dates went well, though. He supposed they all invited him based on good looks alone, but decided it was not worth it when faced with his eccentric and unpredictable personality. Girls didn't really like going on quests for the unknown, he supposed.

And so, the young composer was faced with a rather cruel dilemma: how could he compose romantic songs, if he didn't know anything about romance? It pained him more than he'd like to admit… to think his genius mind was being shackled merely due to his own inexperience! Unthinkable, right?! Such a huge loss for the world!

Leo's struggles continued throughout his junior high years, until suddenly high school graced him alongside the cherry trees.

Yumenosaki Academy was of course a no brainer for Leo; music was his passion and his only talent, if he went to a regular high school he would be damned. Singing and dancing weren't exactly his forte — that is, not like composing was — but it was fun! And the smiles of the audience were more than enough to compensate for all the hard work.

When he finally enrolled at Yumenosaki, his struggles with love songs were momentarily forgotten. Leo was too excited about all the new people he could meet, and was dead set on joining his beloved “Chess” unit. As long as he could make people happy with his songs, he was happy.

It was all he needed, really. But life seemed to have other plans for him.

That fateful encounter came completely unprecedented, like a thunder without any lightning. Leo didn't have time to react before his eyes met beautiful blue eyes for the first time, and his mind just went blank.

It was an event anyone would deem very mundane in their lives, you see strangers on the street everyday. In a way, this was just as common, but completely different at the same time.

Leo felt a hurricane of mixed emotions just by glancing at that person: a lone boy practicing by himself on the school's garden. His singing was so out of tune it hurt to hear, the boy definitely didn't have any prior experience, his singing would be considering shameful by anyone who heard it.

And yet, Leo was fascinated.

The boy attempted notes too difficult for a beginner, his singing was all over the place, he had no direction at all. Of course, he got it all wrong. Awful, really. Leo laughed softly at the insults the boy hurled so irritatedly when he failed, clenching his fists with pure rage. However, he would always try again, and again and again, not caring how many times he failed, he would always get up and try once more.

Leo took a step forward, and uninvitedly barged in Izumi's life.

 

* * *

 

It didn't take much time for the two of them to start spending most of their school time together.

At first, Izumi denied Leo's very direct attempts at becoming closer, shouting insults at any chance he found. Any normal person would be thrown off by such an aggressive attitude, but Leo was annoyingly resilient. He had a sinking feeling on his gut that if he ever let Izumi go he would regret it for a lifetime.

Izumi was prickly like a moody cat, always frowning or groaning. A happy expression was something most people would never even dream to see on his face.

However, Leo was perceptive, even if he didn't seem like it. He paid close attention to all little details about Izumi during their time together, and it became as clear as day that Izumi's irritable behavior was nothing but a poor attempt at obfuscating his shining kindness.

Behind all the layers of grumpiness and insults, laid a gentle, caring Izumi Sena, who would help anyone in need without second thought, who would hear your problems and promptly give advice, who would take care of you like a doting wife, and who possessed the most beautiful and radiant smile Leo had ever seen in his life.

Leo wanted to always keep him smiling, it was a shame that so little people got to see such a beautiful jewel. Although, deep down, Leo also selfishly wanted to keep it all to himself.

He moved up and down on an empty classroom, completely invested on the newest song he had been working on. Lately, inspiration never stopped coming, he couldn't even guess why, though. Leo spent all his free time completely absorbed in his own compositions.

The door to the classroom was opened abruptly, and a very distressed Shu Itsuki entered the room.

“Tsukinaga!” He shouted “If you're not using this room, leave! You're disturbing Valkyrie's intricate practice!”

Even with all the shouting, Leo's attention remained focused only on his song, and he replied halfheartedly. “Oh, Shu,”

Shu was about to drag Leo out of the room himself, when the countless papers sprawled on the floor and a sweet melody caught his attention. “A new composition, huh?” Shu listened to the melody with attention, recognizing Leo as a worthy rival when it came to art.

Shu's expression softened for a mere second while he listened to the piano melody coming out of the nearby iPod, many could argue his expression had been actually an illusion. “Are you in love, Tsukinaga?”

Leo's unstopping hands came to a halt and almost dropped the crayon he was using to compose. Leo stared at Shu with wide eyes.

As a fellow genius, Leo held Shu's opinions in high regard. He enjoyed their heated debates, even if their opinions vastly differed.

But love? He?

That couldn't be it.

* * *

 

Several days passed, and Shu's words didn't leave Leo's mind for a second.

He disastrously mused about his own strange feelings, and still couldn't reach any concrete conclusion. Was it admiration, devotion? Or as Shu said, love?

Granted, Izumi made him feel tons of things, _things_ he definitely never felt toward anyone before, but could he really call it love? Leo desperately wanted to find out.

All kinds of things went inside his head after Shu said those words, as if the word “love” was the trigger to turn Leo's heart into a disaster of emotions. He became increasingly conscious of how much he liked to stay close to Izumi, to hug him or hold his hand, and how cute Izumi looked while he protested, but never denied his approaches.

And then, the bigger problem came around: he couldn't stop dumbly glancing at Izumi's lips from time to time. He felt uneasy, remembering how much all those love songs talked about kissing, although he really didn't know how it was like.

“Leo-kun? Are you listening?” Izumi's voice interrupted Leo's thoughts “Ugh, pay more attention! Am I really going to have to do all the work myself?!”

Leo tried to push the thoughts away once more. They were currently on Leo's room, idly sitting on his bed, discussing details about their upcoming performance. Izumi was terribly strict, refusing to let them half ass it.

“Sorry Sena, I've been pretty out of it today, haven't I?” He replied sheepishly and lowered his head, avoiding Izumi's gaze.

Izumi's expression shifted from irritation to worry in a matter of seconds “Are you really okay, though? If something is bothering you, tell me. I'll solve it. You've been distant for a while now.”

He thought hard about whether he should say something or not, but ultimately decided to put an end to his doubts. “Sena,” He started, voice low and unsure “Can I kiss you?”

Izumi almost fell off Leo's bed at that implication, his face was completely red and he didn't seem to be able to form any coherent sentence, opening his mouth and immediately closing it moments after.

“What the _fuck?!”_ He managed to say, finally.

As if Izumi's desperation was contagious, Leo grew increasingly more flustered “It's for a song! A song!” He lied “You see, love songs are pretty popular! Right?!”

“You want to kiss me… so you can compose a song?” Izumi quickly raised his eyebrow, his embarrassment turning into something Leo couldn't quite pin down.

“Yup!” Leo nodded “I never had any experience with this kind of stuff, so I can't write it from the heart.”

Izumi put a hand to his chin, deep in thought. Almost unnoticeable, his cheeks became a slight tinge of red once more.

“...Go ahead, make it quick, okay?”

Leo blinked, dumbfounded. “What?”

“What do you mean ‘what’ you idiot?! Just do it already!” Izumi shouted in frustration.

“I didn't think you'd actually let me do it! I have a right to be shocked!”

“I'm going to kill you,” He swiftly grabbed his murder weapon— Leo's pillow.

As Izumi tried to suffocate Leo with a pillow out of pure rage, Leo managed to avoid his attacks, outmaneuvering his opponent and pinning him down on the bed.

On top of Izumi, Leo could look at his face very closely, closer than ever before. Izumi's beauty never ceased to stun Leo, no matter how many times he looked, Izumi never lost his essence, in fact, he seemed to get even more beautiful as the days went by. Ah, he was nervous, wasn't him?

Leo moved his face closer to Izumi's, he could feel Izumi's breath on his skin. Noticing Leo's attempt, Izumi closed his eyes as he got closer.

The moment Leo closed the distance between them, he could feel Izumi whimpering for a second, until Leo couldn't think anymore.

Izumi's scent and the softness of his lips flooded his mind completely. All kinds of melodies were being born, countless of them, enough to make billions of symphonies be brought into the earth.

Amidst it all, Leo's hands let go of Izumi's, and moved to caress his cheek softly. Izumi wrapped his arms around Leo's neck in response.

When Leo pulled away, gasping for breath, Izumi protested, kissing Leo once more, this time bolder, deeper. Leo flushed embarrassingly and melted into the new sensation.

They slowly pulled away, and Leo now had a clear view of Izumi's face; he looked a mess, his face was completely flustered, and his always tidily brushed silver hair no longer looked so elegant, and yet, looked even more beautiful.

“There,” Izumi pushed Leo away and sneaked out of Leo's now very messy bed “Go write your damn song.”

Leo laughed dumbly. His chest was filled with a bubbly, wonderful feeling. Leo was itching to compose as many songs as possible, he supposed there wasn't enough paper in the world to salvage the amount of songs buzzing inside his mind right now.

Mozart, Beethoven and Vivaldi would be forgotten as third rate composers next to Leo Tsukinaga, now that he had finally found his muse. His pieces would be incomparable.

Although, surprisingly, he now had something he'd give priority over his own music. Something so precious he'd die to protect.

It was love.

**Author's Note:**

> so!! did you die bc of too much cheese? Lol I hope not  
> this isnt my writing style so it feels kinda different but I hope you enjoyed it regardless! also I rly suck at describing kisses I apologize djdbdbd  
> anyway! thank you very much for reading!! come hit me up on Twitter dot cum @heartfvlcry


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